19 November 2007
On 5 November the Chief Minister imposed new financial and trade Sanctions Orders against Iran and North Korea, and strengthening two existing measures relating to Zimbabwe and Lebanon.
Financial and trade sanctions are normally imposed by the United Nations Security Council to bring pressure on regimes or organisations that are believed to be violating international law or breaching human rights. Jersey currently has Sanctions Orders on 21 target regimes or organisations.
Responsibility for compliance rests with the financial institutions concerned – and failure to comply, or failure to have systems in place to enable compliance, are serious offences.
Representatives from the International Monetary Fund are due to visit Jersey next year and may require evidence that in line with the international community, the Government is effectively implementing sanctions and disseminating information to the finance industry.
To raise awareness in this area the International Relations section of the Chief Minister's office has developed their pages on the States Website and introduced a new function so that finance and legal professionals can subscribe free of charge to receive automatic e-mail notification of all updates.
Chief Minister, Senator Frank Walker sees the new function as key to maintaining Jersey's good reputation as a well-regulated and responsible financial jurisdiction. He says" The finance industry is of paramount importance to Jersey’s economy and it is vital that everyone in the finance institutions in Jersey are aware of their responsibilities for international sanctions – and that they keep regularly up to date with new measures as they are introduced".
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